Why Christians share their faith

Mike Seate, a columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, doesn’t like people sharing their faith with him in a public place. He doesn’t want a stranger to pray for him. He also feels he has found the perfect example to prove the hypocrisy of Christians when it comes to talking about their beliefs, too bad for him, he hasn’t.

To Seate, an atheist, those instances he has encounted with Christians are essentially the same as three Satanists teenagers going into one church and screaming profanities at members, then going to another church and screaming obsenities and frightening a group of kids.

He sets up his final point – the hypocrisy of Christians by exaggerating his own experiences with “religious zealot[s]” and downplaying the encounters of those in the church with the Satanist teens.

Here’s how Seate describes the events:

According to the state police, the youths entered the St. Andrews Lutheran church April 2 and began shouting at the flock and displaying Satanic symbols. The trio must have felt they were on to something, so they headed over to the nearby All Saints Church where they questioned the faith of a bunch of 7- to 12-year-olds waiting in line for confession.

An off-duty state trooper who attends services at All Saints followed the juveniles out to their car, took information from them and later filed a complaint against the youths. The teens face counts of disorderly conduct, harassment and stalking.

There is nothing particularly false about his account, but here is how the actual news story reads:

After entering All Saint’s, Novak said the teens waited in silence about 10 minutes. The upside-down crosses painted on their faces and devilish materials they carried said enough, especially to a group of children under 10, some as young as 6 or 7.

“They were holding their books for all the world to see. They wanted us to see a black book with red letters that said, ‘satanic,’ ” Novak said. “Some of the girls (attending confessional) were crying.

“I didn’t say anything because I didn’t know their purpose. But when my group got up to give confessions, they were standing in the way.”

Novak said she asked them to step aside, so the children could get past.

That sparked a string of profanities and obscenities from the two teens inside the church. Their verbal assault continued until they were apprehended by state police.

That was their second stop of the day, before that the trio went inside another church.

DeLuca said the teens first went to St. Andrews Lutheran Church on Main Street, where they stood quietly in the back for about 20 minutes before unleashing a tirade of profanities at the assembled congregation.

So, someone asks Seate if they can pray for his continued success as a writer and he equates that with children at church being cursed at by Satanists? Since we are comparing things, why don’t we compare Seate’s reaction – writing a column calling those he disagrees with “goofy,” “zealot,” “fanatical,” “guerrilla evangelists,” “religious fanatics,” “obnoxious,” and “pushy” – to the reaction of the church members.

Novak told the frightened and confused third-, fourth- and fifth-graders in her Children’s Catechetical Development class that the teenage suspects need to be shown God’s love.

“I said, ‘We need to say an extra special prayer for them,’ ” she said.

The Rev. Larry Hoover, pastor at St. Andrews, said his congregation seems more concerned about the teenagers than the disturbance.

Parishioners were about to receive Communion when the teens were ushered into the church’s narthex and then started spouting obscenities.

“We are planning to meet and discuss this,” Hoover said. “But, I don’t think people have reacted in anger.

“I think what’s happening in the whole community is a feeling of compassion. People are wondering: How can we help them?”

Sam, sent me this story wondering what I thought. Here what I think – I will fight for the right of Satanists to gather and worship, as sickening and horrific as that is to me. They have the right to do that (as long as it does not move into harming others or their possessions). I will fight for their right to debate with me in a public place (I would actually encourage them to do that). However, they do not have the right to disrupte a church service because they disagree with it. There’s a little thing called private property.

Seate says that Christians have the law on their side, that’s why they are so pushy, and that’s why these teens “are facing misdemeanor charges for trying to convert Christians into Satanists.” Show me where the teenagers were trying to convert someone. He may have a point if the teenagers went into the church and wanted to debate members and prove why Satanism is right, but they merely wanted to scare people and scream obsenities. He would have a better point if Christians went into a Satanist gathering and started screaming at them.

Seate and other non-Christians need to understand something about Christianity. We don’t get any brownie points on Sunday if we talked with someone about our faith. Most of us are too scared to even talk about it because we don’t want to offend someone else. We don’t get a discount on our tithes if we pray with a unbeliever.

While you may not appreciate or understand it, the only reason why a Christian shares their faith with you is because they love you. As a Christian, I believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to have a fulfilling life here and to have fellowship with God after I die. I want other people to experience the same joy, peace, love, hope, etc. that I have found in the person of Jesus. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I would feel horrible if I didn’t tell you about that.

Even those who are not Christians can understand this concept. Think about the most important thing in your life, be it your wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend, child, whatever. When you are in a conversation with someone for very long, eventually you want to tell them about that great thing in your life. You talk about those thing about which you are passionate. It just flows out. It is the same way (only more) with Christians and Jesus.

I know Seate (and Sam) may tire of Christians being overly aggresive when talking about their faith. Some of us do it in a poor and even disrespectful way. But just as I tend to give people a pass when they drone on and on about their children, give the pushy Christian the benefit of the doubt. He’s not in your house, screaming at and cursing your family. He’s just trying to share with you the best thing he’s ever found.

18 Responses

I would just tell Mike Seate that he is also a practitioner of faith. The existence of a God cannot be proved either way. Atheism requires faith that there is no God (of any kind). Aaron, When I was a kid, I used to go to church every Sunday. My favorite part of the service was always the end where everyone would shakes hands with the strangers near them and says “peace be with you.” Since then, I’ve been pushed from Christianity by people who have Seeker’s sentiments about liberals. You seem much more open minded than Seeker so I was wondering if I could ask some questions about what you believe. My questions will not be constructed to inflame, as Seeker tries to do, they will be honest and in the spirit of the last paragraph of the post above. My first question is: There are many religions in the world like Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Buddhists, etc… Most of which have followers as devout as Christianity. They espouse love from their God, an after life, and holy texts. They all have their own version of creation. To complicate things more, there are many types of Christianity like Mormons, Baptists, Catholics, Lutherans, Protestants, etc… If I had to categorize my beliefs I would be an Existentialist – A philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one’s acts. Agnostic – 1. One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God. 2. One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism. I tend to be rational and philosophical in my beliefs. When I consider all the different religions, sometimes I wonder if man made God in his image rather than God making man in his. What makes Christianity the one true religion among all the other religions that profess they are the one true religion? How does one get to the truth?

He may have a point if the teenagers went into the church and wanted to debate members and prove why Satanism is right Actually, no. They are still tresspassing if the owners of the church say so. Period. If the Women's Baptist League showed up at St. Beezlebub's Satanic Coven and tried to show the people there that Jesus was really a better way to go, it would still be tresspassing if the owner did not want them there. In short, soundness of philosophy means nothing on someone else's private property :)

Oh, I agree that they could still be arrested regardless of how nice their motives were, but it would at least give a little more credence to his argument. But I do agree that "soundness of philosophy means nothing on someone else's private property." Cineaste, you raise some very good points and questions. Forgive me if I do not answer them here in the comments and probably not even this week. But I will get to them, I will answer them in a post by itself. For two reasons: 1) To try to keep this as on topic as possible here in this thread 2) Because the answers are going to be fairly long and it is hard to read huge long comments. I hope you can wait a few days for my answers – I am off work tomorrow (Good Friday) and I do not have access to the internet apart from my work.

the only reason why a Christian shares their faith with you is because they love you. Sadly, this is probably not always the case. Some xians are motivated by the feeling that they MUST share their faith (their pastor told them that to be good xians, they had to). Others are trying to rack up a list of souls they've saved or ministered to. And many probably don't love others, but have a concern for them because they believe that they are going to hell. Concern is not love. Love means more than that.

What makes Christianity the one true religion among all the other religions that profess they are the one true religion? How does one get to the truth? All faiths share "common" or "empirical truth – that is, spiritual laws that can be determined by observation and experimentation. For example, Christians talk about sowing and reaping, Buddhists talk about Karma. Very similar concepts that anyone can learn if they observe. However, where faiths differ is in revealed truths – questions that can NOT be answered by observation. Questions like "what happens after we die" and "why does suffering exist" and "what is God really like"? With respect to this, you can remain agnostic, not believing anyone's account of the unseen. Or you may choose to believe someone. So how do you know if we die once, and then meet God, or live many lives over and over? You have to determine who you think is most believable, using reason and your own experience. When I left xianity to explore Buddhism, I learned a lot that I keep with me to this day. However, I used both reason and my experience in deciding to believe the xian revealed truths (while holding to the common truths that Buddhism has preserved and xianity has lost or never had). In experience, I found that living without a personal, transcendant God just did not work for me – it felt unnatural to live without a personal God to talk to and listen to – like it was contrary to the reality of how my soul is designed, and contrary to what actually is. Rationally speaking, I found that the xian bible's historicity, as confirmed by archaology and other historical sciences, the compelling teachings of Jesus, and the manner in which xianity deals with guilt and justice were more convincing than the Buddhist claims to revealed truth – in all honesty, they don't make very many such claims, since Buddhism in it's pure form is mostly empirical. As I wrote in Dangers in the Search For Truth, reason should be used to identify trustworthy sources of faith.

I know this is complicated for you guys to understand, but I want to be left alone. I don't want you to send your kids up to me with Biblical tracts. I don't want you to pray for me. I'm not interested in hearing about the greatest thing that you've found. Seriously, Seeker and Aaron, I don't think you're interested in me describing to you the greatest thing that I've ever found (blowjobs), and I'm certainly willing to respect your right to that. What Seate, and me, and lots of others, wants is simply to left alone. Its great that those people think that they're helping me, but they're not. I think Christianity is a pack of disgusting lies that is used as a cover by bigots for their hatred of others. There is very little that will change my mind about this. I have no problem with you guys being Christian, but I want no part of this ridiculous nonsense.

Seriously, Seeker and Aaron, I don’t think you’re interested in me describing to you the greatest thing that I’ve ever found (blowjobs), and I’m certainly willing to respect your right to that. Well, when you leave your teens behind, you may view life differently ;) But seriously, I understand that people don’t want to be pestered.

Seeker, Here's something we can agree on. It's the pestering nature of this sort of thing that bothers me. I simply want to be left alone. I understand that (some) Christians think that I need their attention, but until I have that need myself – and I won't – I just want to go throughout my day without being bothered.

Sam, again, I understand that you do not want to be bothered and don’t want someone’s attention particularly when it comes to issues of faith, but that doesn’t change what God has told us to do and it doesn’t change what is most important to us. I don’t think someone should bother you or pester you with their faith. I think street-corner preaching and ambush evangelism have lost their effectiveness and are mostly harmful now, so I don’t speak of those. But if I am out with some of my friends and we are all discussing things – politics, sports, relationships, etc. I can’t help but bring up my faith. It defines who I am. And although I know you used the aburdity of it to drive home a point, I doubt very much that is the greatest thing to you in comparison to your little girl.

Aaron, Of course my daughter is tops. But that’s exactly the point – I’m not on streetcorners telling you about it, or harrassing you, or suggesting legislation based around my daughter’s awesomeness. And God might have told you to spread the word, but I’d hate to see that excuse used more than it already is. I can just imagine the lunacy that will get going once everybody can say that God told them to do whatever. Finally, let it be known that a trip out with your friends is slightly different, I assume, than the conversations had with strangers. Do I care if people I don’t know at the Olive Garden are talking Christ? Of course not. Do I care if they come bother me, assuming that I was at an Olive Garden, which would never happen? You bet I’d be annoyed.

Evangelization on private property is really a no-no, except in extreme cases. In public, there are some legal limitations, and in general, we should obey the law (again, there may be exceptions). However, public speaking is one of the great traditions of our country, including impromptu preaching. I’ve done my share of preaching outside of bars in college, and I’ve also seen name-calling preachers. I’ve seen “one on one” evangelism that was as annoying as door to door salespeople – it’s legal, but it is a pain in the neck. But sometimes, it’s just what the person needs. But not usually. I think outdoor preaching is a great thing. It may take away from the local ambiance or peace for a while, but at least it’s not as intrusive as “can I talk to you about Jesus?” Just consider it free entertainment. If you are like me, you can even heckle for fun. :D

But note to self, I became a christian AFTER a Campus Crusade guy sat down with me in a crowded lunchroom (he asked permission), and then asked persmission to go through a tract with me. That led to my conversion a few months later. I'm glad he politely but confidently shared his faith with me, one on one.

Seeker, Again, that’s great for you, and apparently the CC guy was respectful, but I’d really not even be offered. There’s no “salvation” for me through Christainity, because I don’t believe in “salvation.”

Sam you have some valid points…I too am sick and tired of pushy xians. Furthermore, any idiot that thinks a invisible man in the sky is telling them to preach to you… is needing a straight jacket. If anyone else is hearing voices they are certainly locked up!!! The bible and koran and all religious stories are set up in order to explain the movent in the sky. The sun=jesus(good) the moon=satan(evil) reason being during the day you could do good things like work and be with your family and night chased away the sun and bad things would happen at night. Not to mention if you look at a crossection of gods of all religions they have virgin births and 12 brother apostles or 12 something that represents the 12 constellations. Religion is further used to scare people into being good. Well the fact is many christians figure since you can “ask for forgivness and you are forgiven” that they can be social nightmares and still preach to others and go to heaven. News flash people you are either frozen, buried in dirt or burned to cinders when you die. If you want to see more of the facts behind religions see this movie on the web http://zeitgeistmovie.com/ . It tells and proves beyond the shadow of a doubt what each meaning in the bible truely represents. Honestly, if someone really walked on water or was born from a virgin…don’t you think it would be in actual historic records not a book full of stories with no dates??? [ed. Aaron – I’m tempted to delete this comment since it seems to be an ad for the movie, but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt and let it stand. I will however note that the Bible actually does give dates for things and can be cross referenced with other histories of the period to support the time frames mentioned in Scripture.]

The movie is free and I am not advertising but… I do not wanna waste my time re-writing which is told perfectly somewhere else. However, since you brought up the cross referencing… Anyone who reads or knows a little history can and have made up fictional stories about it. But record still stands there is no historical records or credibility to the bible. Oh and those dates you refer to are as broad as the horizon. And, one last thing…if you do not want outside commentary to your opinions (with potential redirects to references) then why open it up to commments?

There’s no “salvation” for me through Christainity, because I don’t believe in “salvation.” I didn’t become a Christian for some esoteric idea of salvation. I realized I was wasting my life without God’s plan for my life. Since God loves better than any human parent ever could, and God made me, I figured his way was best. And I believe it is. So my hope was for a better life in THIS life, not the next. I returned to Christianity because, having explored other spiritual traditions (specifically, yoga and Buddhism), I found that none of them had a personal God, nor significant or complete intellectual answers in other intellectual disciplines. And I felt that living without a personal God was unnatural. You feel no ‘need’ for salvation, that’s fine. Neither did I. But I did feel a need for a loving God, and a conviction that I was wasting my life without God’s plan, and the promises of Jesus Christ. If you read them, you too might feel that way. If not, however, what can anyone do?

teri, I apologize if you weren’t advertising for the movie. It just seemed odd that a comment came in on a thread that had long since been abandoned (last comment before yours was almost two years ago) with a link to a movie. We get tons of spam ads in the comments and yours shared a lot in common with many of those. I wasn’t sure which is why I didn’t delete it. I (or anyone else here) do not mind outside commentary. I don’t mind you linking to whatever you want, now that I know there is no advertising involved. If you look through the comments you will find more people comment here that disagree with us than those who agree. I don’t mind disagreement, at all. But to your point, actually there is a good bit of historical and archeological evidence for Scripture. The dates are not “broad as the horizon” as you say because they tie in with world rulers and events of certain periods mentioned in other books of history. I would be glad to share some of the evidences with you or (as you did) direct you to where you can get tons of information that supports the history recorded in the Bible.